Quelle surprise? NON!
The concept of the Rental Air Farce having to use civvie plastic spastic aeroplanes with all their non-military restrictions was bad enough - incidentally, you do know that Ze Tchermans have now stated that all German a/c must have the captain in the 'designated seat' following a court ruling, don't you chum? The only exception is for flights where the FI is the captain and the student is in the captain's seat - so flying Das Teutor solo from the RHS would be contrary to the current German certification ruling......
But for force-enabling tanker aircraft to be rented on a 'power by the hour' basis is plain daft. Except, of coure, for the owners who will eventually laugh all the way to the bank! "Need another jet to support Bliar's adventurism, do you? Let's look at the fine print. Oh dear - that'll mean Clause VI section 17b. 28 days notice required - or penalty clause 234 section 12c. Shame..."
I can just imagine the delightful Hither's comment to the OzMoD boss when she got back. "This Brit PFI thing is a crock, mate. We should give it the flick!"
And so they have. Their contract is signed - but it's over a year now since the preferred bidder for A330 FSTA was selected.... Such things are beginning to affect ME pilots' decisions to stay in the mob. A chum you will recall (Freddie Mercury look-alike) is now with Sir Dicky B's finest, flying the A340-300 and also their sparkly new A340-600s! Plus anticipating the A380 in a few years....whereas had he stayed in he might still be flying ancient old things like VC10s and TriStars which are years past their sell-by dates with no clear replacement anywhere in sight. Other mates are doing the FIIQ thing just to get a chance of flying something younger than their fathers' ages!